Wireless Workflow

The intelligent approach to camcorder streaming and file transfer

Overview

Whether you’re making news or live entertainment, the changing media landscape means that getting your content on air, or online, before your competitors has never been more important.

Wireless workflow solutions from Sony can transform your wireless video workflow, enabling you to stream or transfer great-looking pictures from the field directly to the station for playback or editing over 4G/LTE or wireless LAN networks.

It couldn’t be simpler. With no cables and no expensive broadcast vans, our wireless video workflow solutions are simple, intuitive and cost-effective. With one of our latest wireless-ready XDCAM camcorders, or our CBK-WA100 wireless adapter, you can streamline your video workflow by streaming directly from your camcorder, and thanks to our QoS (Quality of Service) technology, your story always gets through, with no dropped frames or glitchy audio.

Sony QoS workflow

QoS demonstration

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Conventional MPEG-Ts streaming

Our XDCAM wireless solutions also support conventional MPEG-TS streaming, allowing you stream to a wide range of receivers, including VLC Player for Windows, Mac OSX, Teradek Cube 305, Cube 355, Cube 405 and Cube 455 decoders, as well as other compatible third-party receivers and decoders. You can also stream over a WiFi network or 3G/4G/LTE cellular network, with the appropriate carrier dongle and service, or enjoy wired streaming over Ethernet, using our CBK-NA1* network adapter kit via a router or hub.

*CBK-NA1 sold separately. Streaming requires the latest firmware updates for the camcorders and/or the CBK-WA100, CBK-WA101.

MPEG-TS streaming workflow options

Flexible file transfers

Our wireless workflow solutions allow you transfer files wirelessly over 3G, 4G or wireless LAN. The receiving server gets a bit-for-bit clone of the original camera files, complete with audio, video and metadata. Perfect if you’re out in the field shooting news or other time-sensitive content.

Proxy recording and transfer

Lightweight proxy video streamlines your video workflow by greatly shortening transfer times, allowing editors and journalists to do rough cuts before the high-res assets arrive. And even if your camcorder doesn’t generate proxy, our CBK-WA100 and CBK-WA101 wireless adapters generate proxy and record it to affordable SD cards*. The AVC/H.264 proxy is frame accurate and will play back, with audio, on a wide range of computer applications.

*SD cards sold separately.

Operate the camera from your smartphone or tablet

Your smartphone and tablet have beautiful, high resolution displays. Now you can use those displays to control an XDCAM camcorder, see what the viewfinder sees, browse content and trigger playback. You can even log in good shots, job name, location, crew and news planning metadata, all from the comfort of your Android® or iOS® device. Simply download Sony’s free app, Content Browser Mobile, from Google Play or the App Store.*

*Requires Android 4.1-5.0, iOS 7.0-8.1. Requires the latest firmware updates for the camcorders and the CBK-WA100, CBK-WA101 or IFU-WLM3.

Your XDCAM camcorder just got even better

With over 400,000 models sold worldwide, our legendary XDCAM camcorders are the tools of choice for broadcasters across the globe. Now, with even more spectacular picture quality, multi-codec flexibility and wireless streaming, the XDCAM range has been reinvented for a new generation, making it the perfect companion to take advantage of our wireless video workflow technology.

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Compatibility

In many cases, the XDCAM camcorder you already own can be upgraded to advanced wireless workflow. All you need is a free, user-downloadable firmware upgrade, plus the appropriate optional Sony wireless adapter.

* The CBK-WA02 is supported in limited areas. Please ask Sony sales or marketing manager for detail. ** Discontinued and new models also support our advanced wireless workflow.

Customer stories

Locarno Film Festival brings backstage coverage online

We collaborated with Swisscome at the 2015 Locarno Film Festival to deliver a unique live stream solution and a smooth production workflow, bringing the festival to an online audience. Using three of Sony’s acclaimed XDCAM cameras equipped with LTE dongles, the crew were freed from the usual restrictions of using SDI cable and were able to capture some of the unique festival spirit and emotion from Locarno through a series of interviews and regular bulletins. During the live production three camera streams, working with the PWS-100RX1 (Network RX Station) provided a live stream with Sony QoS, resulting in the highest picture quality you depend on from Sony.

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Maverick TV picks PMW-200 for wireless operations

Maverick TV picked the PMW-200 to work faster and smarter on their latest documentary. The portable 3-chip XDCAM camcorder was teamed with our CBK-WA100 Wi-Fi adaptor that uploads low-res proxies straight to the cloud for quick, easy editing.

XDCAM goes wireless in Tahiti

Using a combination of the PMW-400 XDCAM Camcorder, PMW-50 playback/recording deck and CBK-WA100 wireless adapter, plus Sony’s Ci cloud service, freelancer Nicolas Eveilleau shot a documentary in Tahiti alone and without compromising on quality. Ci was particularly helpful in dramatically reducing the burdens involved in reviewing, selecting and sending content back to the production crew.

To shoot a documentary on the other side of the world requires exceptional logistical planning, especially when the production team needs the content that same day. These logistics are virtually impossible when you work alone, as Nicolas Eveilleau did when making his documentary in the Polynesian islands.

“I could only take as much equipment as I could carry by myself,” he explains.

On a remote shoot, the fear is that sacrifices must be made in terms of quality because of equipment limitations. However, thanks to Sony’s new tools, it is now possible to go further, alone, and for longer using the high-end XDCAM shoulder camcorders. The CBK-WA100 enables compressed images to be sent via the Internet using the existing telecom network, making it unnecessary to create and transport your own transmission infrastructure.

“I can carry everything I need for filming, sound, offloading my cards and sending proxies in one single bag. I was never held back by any technical constraints. It is the freedom that you look for on each shoot.”

Regional Dutch broadcaster Omroep Flevoland explains how easy it is to be the first to get news live, on air or on the web. Find out how they are using Sony XAVC wireless workflow with their PMW-400 camcorders and CBK-WA101 adapters to be the first on air.

News travels fast

Discover how wireless solutions from Sony can save you time and money with live streaming and high-speed file transfers in our wireless workflow webinar.